Friday

Nov 9, 2018 at 5:15 PMNov 9, 2018 at 5:33 PM

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Division of Fish & Wildlife announced Nov. 9 the private butcher shops and DNREC cooler locations that accept donated deer for the Sportsmen Against Hunger program during Delaware’s 2018-19 deer hunting season.

Deer donated by successful deer hunters are processed into venison at no charge to the hunter, with the Division of Fish & Wildlife distributing the venison to charitable groups that provide meals for needy Delawareans.

In 2017, DNREC’s Sportsmen Against Hunger program distributed 19,083 pounds of venison from 649 deer donated by hunters to approximately three dozen food pantries and shelters statewide, which provided 76,332 meals to Delawareans in need. Since it began in 1992, the program has provided more than 2 million such meals.

Successful hunters can take their deer directly to participating private butcher shops, or they may drop off their deer at any of DNREC’s walk-in coolers.

Hunters donating deer are encouraged to call the phone number posted on the walk-in coolers so that the deer can be transported for processing in a timely manner. Hunters are reminded that all deer dropped off at a cooler must be field-dressed and registered by the hunter, with the registration number written on the field tag attached to the deer. Coolers are checked frequently, with donated deer taken to participating private butcher shops or the Sussex Correctional Institution’s deer butchering program for processing.

Deer harvested in Delaware, including donated deer, must be registered through the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Hunter and Trapper Registration system. Deer hunters are encouraged to access the system at dnrec.delaware.gov/delhunt. Hunters who prefer to talk to a live customer service representative can call 855-335-4868.

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